A community development group that had come under fire for inefficiency got a second chance from the Durham City Council last night, but the council made it clear that it wanted to see results from the group.
Despite complaints from residents, the council agreed 8-4 to a compromise with Hayti Development Corporation, a nonprofit group repairing dilapidated houses in Northeast Central Durham that has received funding from the city for several years.
Under the agreement, recommended by Interim City Manager Greg Bethea, the group will return $198,000 to the city and stop work on all but six houses. If Hayti cannot successfully start to rehabilitate and sell some of those houses according to a timeline set out by Bethea, it must return even more of its funding.
Six weeks ago, the council considered taking money away from the development group but postponed judgment to give Hayti a chance to make progress. During the six weeks, the corporation appointed a new executive director, Brigette Rasberry, and had a few meetings with neighborhood residents.
But residents said the meetings had been poorly advertised, and that Hayti had never done anything for the neighborhood.
"For six years, Hayti has had this money to develop these houses," said Steve Hopkins, who has said he will run for mayor in November. "And they didn't."
A few council members agreed, saying the group has had its chance.
"The community needs these homes completed. It's all about results," said council member Dan Hill. "And when I look around, the results aren't there."
But the majority view was that no other group could rehabilitate the houses as quickly as Hayti could, and that Bethea's proposal would make sure Hayti did not keep the money without success.
"This is an opportunity to focus and achieve some tangible results, because that's what everybody says they want to see," said council member Erick Larson. "I don't see that anybody else is going to jump in... and get it done any faster."
Council member Mary Jacobs said the group had satisfied the council's requests from six weeks ago.
"The last time that Hayti Development Corporation came before us, we asked them to come back with a plan and a timeline, and apparently they have done that," she said.
Rasberry, the group's executive director, said she was "very pleased" by the council's decision.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: The council authorized the mayor to draft a resolution praising the Duke men's basketball team for winning the national championship. Next Monday, the city will host an 8:30 a.m. celebration to send the Blue Devils off to Washington, D.C., where President George W. Bush will congratulate them.
The meeting's first 20 minutes were graced by a performance by the Gainford Singers, a group of 33 musicians from another city called Durham-this one on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The group, aiming to repay a 1999 visit by Orange Grove Baptist Gospel Choir's visit to Durham, England, will perform a joint concert with them this evening.
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